Poetry
kettle lives
I'm a kettle, I'm a kettle
you can call me black
I'm a kettle, I'm a kettle but I will fight back
I'm boiling with anger, hot fumes rising from my spout
so be afraid pot!
Watch out! Watch your mouth
or you will shatter -
Kettle lives matter
Reading: Not as much by Fanny Howe
Fanny Howe (b. 1940) is an acclaimed New England poet who published 20 books. She has won numerous awards. I read a small poem that I think is representative of her work, as it is the careful registration in language of a familiar experience. Not as much Bracken and primrose edible smells the color of ...
Love
Love is a prison of the heart
Says the infatuated:
You are my prison guard
Reading: Paper People by Harry Baker
Harry Baker (b. 1992) is a slam poetry champion who used to study math. An enticing combination that makes for some interesting slam poetry. Today I read "paper people", a lovely allegory for society culminating in a touching personal reminder. I quote the entire poem here with his kind permission (how #twitter makes our life ...
Reading: Gracious living Tara by Tom Raworth
British poet Tom Raworth (1938 - 2017) was associated with the Black Mountain School. He won numerous awards with his poetry that, according to John Olsen, features an intense gouache of perceptions Gracious living ' Tara' lonely as four cherries on a tree at night, new moon, wet roads a moth or a snowflake ...
Reading: Shorter American Memory of the Declaration of Independence by Rosmarie Waldrop
Rosmarie Waldrop (b. 1935) is a German poet who emigrated to the United States in the late 1950s. She is the acclaimed translator of the poetry of Edmond Jabès. Unknown to her work, I poured over what is of her poetry available online and stumbled upon this funny idea. Shorter American Memory of the Declaration ...
Reading: James McMichael – The Admiral Benbow
American poet James McMichael (1939) is the author of multiple collections of poetry and receiver of many awards, as you might expect. I found out about him through the book Poetry for Dummies. I read a poem about the ghost of a ship: The Admiral Benbow The aisles are filled with trees, The tables with ...
Reading: Sunbathing by David Baker
David Baker is an American poet and professor of English born in 1954. His poetry books have titles like Never-Ending birds, Changeable Thunder, or The truth about small towns. I liked this poem at first sight. The subtle rhyme and rhythm of the first verse, until "I suppose he is", is a fine poetic craftwork. Both - chokes, ...